Tea and treats with family

It is great to take time to be with family.  I loved spending the afternoon sitting around and talking over tea and treats.

I picked up some fun treats to share with my mom and sisters. Some Swiss Chocolates,  nuts, and cookies.

https://www.worldmarket.com/search.do?query=cookie

Ladyfingers from Italy-picked up at World Market.  I was not a big fan of these.  They were plain and tasteless.

German Cookies from Ohio Tea Company.

https://www.ohioteaco.com/

Dutch Caramel Wafers from World Market.

Scotland Shortbread from World Market.

Pizzelles from Italy, purchased at World Market.

Lace sugar for the top of tea.

My sister also made crumpets.  We had a great array of tea treats.

I made a chai with almond milk that we all enjoyed.  The chai is from Aldhi.

https://www.aldi.us/en/products/simply-nature/

I made a hot Harney & Son Tea in this tea set that my dad brought back from Germany for my mom over 50 years ago.

https://www.harney.com/search?q=cranberry%20autumn

I also made an iced tea.  Raspberry Oolong from Dragonfly Tea Room.

https://www.dragonflyontheriver.com/tea-room/

We used the sugar lace dollies in our tea.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/551726607/edible-lace-cake-lace-sugar-lace?ref=related-2

Yes, I enjoyed two plates of goodies....don't judge.

                                 

This was an afternoon filled with great food, great tea, laughter and time with family.  PRICELESS!!!

Aldi Simply Nature Organic Chai Tea Latte

https://www.aldi.us/en/products/beverages/tea/

I just learned Aldi was selling tea concentrates. My girl friends and I were talking about trying it.  We learned that they come in three flavors-chai tea latte, dirty chai tea latte, and London fog tea latte.  Simply Nature Organic Tea Lattes cost $2.99 for a 32-ounce carton. 

If you are wondering what dirty chai is...it has espresso in it. I am not a fan, but some people love it.  London Fog is Earl Grey tea with lavender in it.

My one friend was sweet enough to get me a container of the Chai Latte for Valentines Day.  I was super excited to try it.  I like my chai lattes iced.  It is simply equal parts chai and equal parts milk, with ice added in.   I used almond, oat, or soy milk in my lattes.

In the Chai latte is black tea, ginger, cardamom, clove, anise and nutmeg

I also am loving my monogrammed glass. I am looking forward to making more at the Wayne College lab.  They have a laser engraver that they let people in the community use for projects.

I enjoyed this concentrate.  It is a bit sweet, so I just put more milk then tea in the glass.   I was able to get the chai notes, but it was more sweet then a spicy chai.

Tea Charcuterie Board

I bought this Charcuterie board at Big Lots on my birthday.

https://www.biglots.com/search/?Ntt=boards

I enjoyed making myself a little treat on my birthday.  This little board is the perfect size for individual serving.  It is fun to use this as a plate.

How fun would it be to have friends over and get them each a board with their initial on it.  They can eat off of it and then take it home as well.  A little thank you for coming over and a fun favor for them to take home.

Tea with friends

Getting friends together for tea!  It is near Valentine's Day, so I did a little decorating.

I also gathered some fun treats, so let the good times roll.

For those who wanted a little sugar, I had cubed sugar and also valentine sugar candy.

These beautiful ladies from my church came over for tea.  I prepared, bubble tea, butterfly pea tea, iced chai latte, hot chai, and several other teas.

There was lots of fun, laughter and tea flowing.

Take the time to gather with friends.  It's so important to be social and get out, but if you still aren't comfortable with that do zoom calls, phone calls, Skype calls or something to stay in touch with people.  Getting together, encouraging friends, and staying in touch does your heart good.

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25 

One of my friends even did a little trick with fire and an empty tea bag.

Bernie even stopped in for a spot of tea.

When you have bubble tea, it is fun to try to get all the bubbles sucked up the straw.

My friend sent me this meme below, it cracked me up!!!!

So, I invited Bernie in for tea.

ESP Emporium Oolong Lemon Basil

Ingredients: half-fermented tea (86%), basil, lemon granules (fruit (lemon juice), malt dextrin, natural lemon oil, gelling agent: sodium alginate), flavoring, marigold blossoms. 

http://www.espemporium.com/p-357-oolong-tea-lemon-basil.aspx

When I make tea in the french press, I put the tea above the press so that I can lift the press when the tea is done steeping, that way I don't over steep it.  Or I put the loose leaf tea a tea bag to steep.

As an oolong tea you don't want to burn the tea leaves.  Your water should be around 180 degrees.  You also want to steep for 3 minutes.

I know people want to know how long tea lasts....well, if you keep it in a dark, air tight container it will last longer.  This tea is about 4 years old, some people might have already tossed it, but I think it is still good  The trick I think is adding more tea and steeping a little longer.

This tea has great lemon notes.  The notes of basil are light, but I taste them.  I also get the oolong flavor.  I like this tea a lot.

 

Keeppley Tea building bocks

Super cute and fun Coffee House, or as I like to think, Tea House.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001784477824.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.4a3c4eb2rHJDDR&algo_pvid=01d61d31-4a9d-4d45-b716-d2cfc0246731&algo_expid=01d61d31-4a9d-4d45-b716-d2cfc0246731-14&btsid=0bb0622d16145680766641594ef71e&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

There are lots of fun details inside the shop.

My little collection has come together nicely.

These are so fun!!  I just love putting them together.

These little tea houses are really inexpensive.  A great way to play with building blocks without the typical expensive of Legos.